The present invention relates generally to office systems and, more particularly, to such office systems having movable partitions and modular furniture units.
Current changes in office environments have created a transition from private fixed wall offices to a need for conference areas. Private offices are now a meeting area for office personnel, and office partition systems have become universally employed in offices.
Office furniture includes components such as desks, credenzas, storage modules and other office equipment. Normally it is not possible to use the same office furniture interchangeably in both a private, fixed wall office and an open office scheme. In the prior art, most office furniture was made for either a fixed wall office or an open office environment. The open office furniture was not able to be interchanged between the two environments because it was designed to attach to particularly sized office panels. In these open offices, the partitions included vertical channel members with slots into which the office furniture would connect and hang much like those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,384 assigned to the assignee of the present invention. These vertical channels are spaced a fixed distance apart allowing only similarly spaced office furniture to attach. Private offices normally do not have the vertical channels for attaching furniture. There is a particular need to reduce the types of office furniture in order to achieve flexibility and economies in manufacturing.
Rapidly changing business conditions have resulted in constant changes in the work force of many offices. In prior art systems, the integration and physical layout of open office schemes and private office schemes are difficult to adapt and change. Also, it has been difficult to supply power to open office partition schemes since these systems often stand away from pre-existing exterior walls from where power is normally supplied. This has necessitated power cords running under floors or through ceiling tiles to electrify the free standing partitions of open office systems.
Prior art office componentry in open office panel systems is limited in that certain components may be attached only at specific places on the system because of the location the vertical channels or because of strength limitations of the system. Open office systems and private fixed wall offices have not had integrated, consistent and complimentary office work space partition systems.
Thus there is a need for an office system which is flexible, visually appealing, and adaptable to changing office requirements.